Scripture Readings: Book of Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14; First Letter to Timothy 1:12-17; Gospel According to Luke 15:1-32 The story is told of a catechism class studying the Parable the Prodigal Son. After emphasizing...

Scripture Readings: Book of Wisdom 9:13-18; Letter of Saint Paul to Philemon 9-17; Gospel According to Saint Luke 14:25-33 The first words we hear from Jesus in this Sunday’s Gospel passage might almost startle us. They were spoken...

Scripture Readings: Book of Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Letter to the Hebrews 1218-19, 22-24; Gospel According to Saint Luke 14:1, 7 – 14 All three Mass readings from the Bible this Sunday are gems of wisdom and joy for those who take them to heart and strive to put...

Scripture Readings: Book of the Prophet Isaiah 66:18-21; Letter to the Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13; Gospel According to Saint Luke 13:22-30 This Sunday in Ordinary Time directs our attention to God’s intention for the salvation of the human race in Jesus Christ. Expressed...

As an infant of forty days, Jesus was presented in the Jerusalem Temple, where the elderly prophet Simeon said to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, that her child was “set for the fall and rising of many in Israel,’ and as a sign that would be spoken against,” (see Luke...

Scripture Readings: Book of Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23; Letter to the Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11; Gospel According to Saint Luke 12:13-21 This Sunday’s Scripture readings provide us with another opportunity to reflect on the fact that “you can’t take it with you,” when one...

16th Sunday of Ordinary Time-Cycle C-2019 FIRST READING Genesis 18:1-10a The LORD appeared to Abraham by the terebinth of Mamre, as he sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot. Looking up, Abraham saw three men standing nearby. When he saw...

15th Sunday of Ordinary Time–Cycle C–2019 FIRST READING Deuteronomy 30:10-14 Moses said to the people: “If only you would heed the voice of the LORD, your God, and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law, when...

14th Sunday of Ordinary Time-Cycle C-2019 FIRST READING Isaiah 66:10-14c Thus says the LORD: Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her, all you who love her; exult, exult with her, all you who were mourning over her! Oh, that you may suck fully of the milk...

Scripture Readings: First Book of Kings 19:16-21; Saint Paul’s Letter to the Galatians 5:1, 13-18; Gospel According to Saint Luke 9:51-62 Whether young or old, poor or rich, people normally wish to be treated with respect and fairness. Jesus encountered a lack of...

Every year on June 24th the Church remembers in a special way the birth of the great prophet, John the Baptist. This is also the day of our yearly recalling the beginning of the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, on June 24th, 1964. On that day our three founders,...

Scripture Readings: Book of Genesis 14:18-20; First Letter of Saint Paul the Corinthians 11:23-26; Gospel According to Saint Luke 9:11-17 On the night before giving His life on the cross, Jesus instituted the Eucharist, the gift of his Body and Blood, in the form of...

Scripture Readings: Book of Proverbs 8:22-31; Letter to the Romans 5:1-5; Gospel According to Saint John 16:12-15 Each year on the Sunday following Pentecost, the Church celebrates the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, our belief that God is One and yet Three Persons:...

Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13; John 20:19-23 The Solemnity of Pentecost is a splendid reminder of the universality of the love God has for us. At Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, the Church celebrates the powerful presence of God...

What does it matter for us today that Jesus ascended into heaven? While we hear it in both the first reading and gospel today, we also confess it every Sunday and Solemnity in the Creed: “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” This...

On April 30, 2000, Pope St. John Paul II designated the second Sunday after Easter to be a celebration of Divine Mercy. Why this day? This is the day which the Church proclaims that Jesus, “the first and the last,” whom we put to death by our sins, comes through our...

Homily for Easter Sunday Day Mass — Cycle C–2019 FIRST READING Acts of the Apostles 10:34a, 37-43 Peter proceeded to speak and said: “You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached; how God...

EASTER VIGIL MASS–CYCLE C–2019 FIRST READING Genesis 1:1–2:2 In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said,...

Good Friday 2019 FIRST READING Isaiah 52:13-53:12 See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be raised high and greatly exalted. Even as many were amazed at him–so marred was his look beyond human semblance and his appearance beyond that of the sons of...

Holy Thursday 2019 FIRST READING Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall stand at the head of your calendar; you shall reckon it the first month of the year. Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth...

6th Sunday of Lent – Passion Sunday – Cycle C–2019 FIRST READING Isaiah 50:4-7 The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I...

5th Sunday of Lent – Cycle C–2019 FIRST READING Isaiah 43:16-21 Thus says the Lord, who opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters, who leads out chariots and horsemen, a powerful army, till they lie prostrate together, never to rise, snuffed...

4th Sunday of Lent, Cycle C–2019 FIRST READING Joshua 5:9a, 10-12 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you.” While the Israelites were encamped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated the Passover on...

3rd Sunday of Lent, Cycle C–2019 FIRST READING Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15 Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the Lord appeared...

2nd Sunday of Lent, Cycle C–2019 FIRST READING Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18 The Lord God took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.” Abram put his faith...